Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($)	Feb. 29, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($) segment	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		$ 1,245,938				$ 1,031,356				$ 1,245,938	$ 1,031,356
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		1,727,657				1,766,045				1,727,657	1,766,045
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	[1]	429,633				516,346				429,633	516,346
Inventory, Operative Builders		3,403,228				3,313,747				$ 3,403,228	3,313,747
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										5
Revenues:
Revenues		1,191,942	$ 913,283	$ 811,050	$ 678,371	985,783	$ 843,157	$ 622,969	$ 580,121	$ 3,594,646	3,032,030	$ 2,400,949
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)		55,028	$ 53,463	$ 24,797	$ 16,027	69,917	$ 33,954	$ 12,673	$ 10,499	149,315	127,043	94,949
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(5,601)	2,488	1,427
Impairment of Real Estate										49,580	8,030	37,628
Assets:
Total assets		5,131,624				5,086,905				5,131,624	5,086,905
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		64,016				71,558				$ 64,016	71,558
Homebuilding [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										4
Revenues:
Revenues										$ 3,582,943	3,020,987	2,389,643
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										144,849	115,419	86,403
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(2,181)	(1,804)	741
Assets:
Total assets		5,121,125				5,072,877				$ 5,121,125	5,072,877
Financial services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										1
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ 4,466	11,624	8,546
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(3,420)	4,292	686
Assets:
Total assets		10,499				14,028				10,499	14,028
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		$ 7,771				10,440				$ 7,771	10,440
Home Community Mortgage LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		49.90%								49.90%
KBHS, LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		50.00%								50.00%
Corporate and Other [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ (98,511)	(92,446)	(71,993)
Assets:
Total assets		$ 1,384,983				1,412,893				1,384,983	1,412,893
Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		297,290				263,345				297,290	263,345
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		456,508				421,783				456,508	421,783
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		15,439				22,082				15,439	22,082
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										10,633	0	0
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		0				0				0	0
Central [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues										1,018,535	809,738	698,429
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										85,924	70,959	47,214
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										0	0	0
Assets:
Total assets		909,497				829,811				909,497	829,811
West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		695,742				535,795				695,742	535,795
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		820,088				788,607				820,088	788,607
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		210,910				277,954				210,910	277,954
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										8,209	645	27,285
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		51,612				54,360				51,612	54,360
West Coast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues										1,638,078	1,402,264	1,089,857
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										148,014	127,946	116,325
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(1,561)	(1,106)	(374)
Assets:
Total assets		1,847,279				1,740,299				1,847,279	1,740,299
Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		122,020				120,184				122,020	120,184
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		182,554				238,324				182,554	238,324
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		80,357				111,633				80,357	111,633
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										27,547	4,132	3,951
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		2,499				2,501				2,499	2,501
Southeast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues										478,857	410,743	401,853
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										(29,385)	(22,758)	(11,158)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(2)	(2)	3,291
Assets:
Total assets		414,730				507,844				414,730	507,844
Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		130,886				112,032				130,886	112,032
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		268,507				317,331				268,507	317,331
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		122,927				104,677				122,927	104,677
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										3,191	3,253	6,392
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		9,905				14,697				9,905	14,697
Southwest [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues										447,473	398,242	199,504
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										38,807	31,718	6,015
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(618)	(696)	(2,176)
Assets:
Total assets		$ 564,636				$ 582,030				$ 564,636	582,030
Nationstar Mortgage LLC [Member] | Home Community Mortgage LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		50.10%								50.10%
Stearns Lending, LLC [Member] | KBHS, LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		50.00%								50.00%
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										$ 3,232	1,561	1,803
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Central [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										460	225	995
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | West Coast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										769	352	554
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										1,750	984	254
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southwest [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										$ 253	$ 0	$ 0
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percent of Homebuilding Revenues										2.00%
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										$ 1,400

[1] Land held for sale totaled $63.4 million at November 30, 2016 and $5.7 million at November 30, 2015.